Liddle brings a little somethin’ to Dougherty Valley

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Dougherty’s newest AP World History and World Geography teacher Evan Liddle brings a unique personality to his classes.

“I grew up in Salinas High so I attended Salinas High School. Then I went to the University of California at Santa Barbara. For my teaching license and master’s degree, I went to the University of California Santa Cruz. Some students see me walking around with the University bag from Berlin,” Liddle said. “I did four semesters in Berlin.”

Liddle also stated he was fluent in German. His mother was descended from a female German immigrant who came to America generations earlier. The immigrant’s eight siblings stayed behind in Germany, meaning a portion of Liddle’s family is in Germany. Although he never spoke the language growing up, he studied it in college. In fact, he cited it as part of his reasoning for studying abroad.

Liddle claimed his experiences abroad helped him grow as a person.

“When you’re in a totally new situation and you’re really immersed and in that mindset, when you go to class it brings out all the questions,” Liddle said. “Not to sound cliché, but it does open up your mind a lot.”

He encouraged studying abroad as a way for people to build themselves not only personally, but also professionally.

“I would always recommend it, especially in terms of professionally developing yourself by being exposed to new experiences.”

Liddle joined the UC Santa Barbara rowing team while he attended the university and spoke of its positive effects in his life.

“You really learn sportsmanship and you really learn teamwork in some ways you don’t learn in other sports because in rowing is literally you an 8 other people in a boat and if you wanna win you have to row as one.”

He continued on what he desired in Dougherty students relating back to his own hobbies and interests.

“Non-academically, you just have to find what you enjoy and then kinda do it.”

Liddle previously taught for a year in North Monterey County High, just outside of Castro Valley. He reflected on his choice to come to Dougherty to teach history.

“Part of what I like about history is very techincal … [Dougherty] was a good fit because students are more academically-driven, so I can get more technical than I could perhaps at a school that had a different drive, so you have to modify your teaching based on the environment.”

Sophomore Vela Rajesh, an AP World History student, spoke about having Liddle as his teacher.

“He integrates current events to his lessons to help students understand the concept more,” Rajesh stated.

Echoing his reasoning to teach at Dougherty, Liddle noticed a definite change in academic drive at Dougherty.

“Whatever kids really are into they’ll throw themselves into it and do their absolute best at it,” Liddle stated.

Liddle’s teaching style also changed with the transfer between schools.

“I can assign homework here. That’s one of the big things at North Monterey: you have a hard time assigning homework mainly because of the socioeconomic conditions students find themselves in … Many don’t have the time or resources to do it mainly because they’re working jobs to help feed their families so homework is kind of the last thing on their mind. But [in Dougherty] it allows students to go a little deeper because I can, in fact, assign homework.”

His love and passion for his job is inherent in every aspect of what he does. He stated, “I really just like working with material and working with students, like a combination of both.”

When asked what he wanted students to know, Liddle revealed, “I’m here for them, and maybe they can come see me whenever they need. I try to make that clear, but maybe my demeanor doesn’t always make it come off that way. I’ll do my best to help them out.” Even in his responses, Liddle embodies a light-hearted persona which isn’t always apparent.

“Overall, he’s an exceptional teacher who keeps striving to get the best results from the students,” Rajesh said.